Double, Double, Toil and Trouble...

A US and British team of scientists has found that we aren't all as much alike under the nuclear membrane as had previously been thought. It seems that we all have multiple copies of some genes, but not necessarily the same number of copies. From The Independent:
The findings mean that instead of humanity being 99.9 per cent identical, as previously believed, we are at least 10 times more different between one another than once thought - which could explain why some people are prone to serious diseases.

The studies published today have found that instead of having just two copies of each gene - one from each parent - people can carry many copies, but just how many can vary between one person and the next.

The studies suggest variations in the number of copies of genes is normal and healthy. But the scientists also believe many diseases may be triggered by an abnormal loss or gain in the copies of some key genes.

Some of the mutiply copied genes appear to be related to disease and resistance to disease:
One gene, called CCL3L1, which is copied many times in people of African descent, appears to confer resistance to HIV. Another gene involved in making a blood protein is copied many times in people from south-east Asia and seems to help against malaria. Other research has shown that variation in the number of copies of some genes is involved in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease

Not yet discovered, but sure to come, is the revelation that Lubos has a lot more copies of the "smart gene" than I do. Ditto the "lost causes gene*."

*Known locally as the "right wing nutjob gene."

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